For the first time ever, scientists have redirected the path of lightning bolts with lasers. During a demonstration atop Switzerland’s Säntis mountain, researchers fired rapid laser pulses at thunderclouds for more than six hours and observed lasers diverting four different lightning strikes. One was filmed in clear enough conditions to demonstrate how the bolt steered the path of the laser for around 50 meters. A laser …
Farewell to Mathematician Katherine Johnson, Crucial “Hidden Figure” at NASA in the ’60s Space Race From her time as a childhood math prodigy in West Virginia to her crucial role as a “computer” at NASA, where her calculations helped lead astronauts into orbit and then the moon, black mathematician Katherine Johnson was a pioneering figure in spaceflight. Johnson’s work was critical to NASA’s earlier successes—especially …
In both 2016 and 2018, Lockheed Martin launched one next-generation weather tracking satellite—known as GOES, or Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites—capable of detecting almost every bolt of lightning in the Western Hemisphere. Two more of these 6,000-pound satellites will be launched in 2021 and 2024. With all four in place, they’ll be able to monitor electrical activity in the atmosphere—and the data they amass will help to …
